Sunday, November 06, 2005

Good Modern Poetry

Esther Cameron(I'm quite taken with this neat Metaphysical-style sonnet of hers:)

Love's Catechism

That water may be taught to flow uphill,The sun to rise out of the western ground;That lively ichors from cold stones distill,That our lost years may somewhere yet be found;That roses blossom at the arctic pole,That freshets purl across the desert path,The swift-sent arrow will not find the goal,Nor the slow tortoise feel Achilles' wrath;That there may be two hills without a dale,That lions may be taught to draw the plow,That moth-wings make invulnerable mail,That war-ships founder on a drowned man's brow:All these false things true lovers must believe,For the world wears worse, when these illusions leave.

I've seen a lot of poets writing sonnets and sestinas and villanelles lately, but not very many ballades, which is a shame, because it's a form capable of great emotional effects. Observe: Ballade to Our Lady of Czestochowa by Hilaire Belloc; A Ballade of Suicide by GKC. Actually, villanelles and sestinas are usually kind of annoying. Sonnets are awesome. In short, I want to read more ballades.